WO2007051241A1 - Améliorations de dispositifs automatiques de nettoyage de piscine - Google Patents

Améliorations de dispositifs automatiques de nettoyage de piscine Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2007051241A1
WO2007051241A1 PCT/AU2006/001631 AU2006001631W WO2007051241A1 WO 2007051241 A1 WO2007051241 A1 WO 2007051241A1 AU 2006001631 W AU2006001631 W AU 2006001631W WO 2007051241 A1 WO2007051241 A1 WO 2007051241A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
skirt
pool cleaner
hose
grooves
cleaner according
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/AU2006/001631
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
James Edward Kellogg
Original Assignee
Aquakleen Pty Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from AU2005906032A external-priority patent/AU2005906032A0/en
Application filed by Aquakleen Pty Ltd filed Critical Aquakleen Pty Ltd
Publication of WO2007051241A1 publication Critical patent/WO2007051241A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E04—BUILDING
    • E04H—BUILDINGS OR LIKE STRUCTURES FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSES; SWIMMING OR SPLASH BATHS OR POOLS; MASTS; FENCING; TENTS OR CANOPIES, IN GENERAL
    • E04H4/00—Swimming or splash baths or pools
    • E04H4/14—Parts, details or accessories not otherwise provided for
    • E04H4/16—Parts, details or accessories not otherwise provided for specially adapted for cleaning
    • E04H4/1654—Self-propelled cleaners
    • E04H4/1663—Self-propelled cleaners the propulsion resulting from an intermittent interruption of the waterflow through the cleaner

Definitions

  • THIS APPLICATION relates to automatic pool cleaners and in particular but not limited to improvements of pool cleaner suction head construction, pool cleaner skirt construction and pool cleaner hose floatation systems.
  • Pool cleaners that employ self-propulsion mechanisms have a valve arrangement that intermittently opens and closes and this provides the propulsive force that propels the cleaner across the pool bottom and wall surfaces.
  • a flexible diaphragm intermittently opens and closes the water pathway to propel the cleaner.
  • the cleaners concerned generally have a generally circular skirt which travels over the pool bottom and wall surfaces to clean the surface. Skirts have a varying configuration from radially pleated to flat skirts. Some skirts include projecting fingers, castellated periphery and radial slits.
  • Another problem with existing pool cleaners resides in the suction heads which include a relatively large inventory of parts that make up the cleaner. While this type of pool cleaner has been common for more than 25 years, the number of parts making up the pool cleaner has remained fairly constant and as in most things it is desirable to minimise the number of parts that need to be made or maintained, there has not been any significant development in this area over such a long period of time.
  • pool cleaners of the above type utilise a floating hose system so that the pool head is maintained clear of the hose during operation. Since most pool activity is surface activity, the fact that the hose is a floating hose is an inconvenience since the hose gets in the way of this activity. This has been overcome in the past by providing an inflatable chamber that is inflated by reason of the pressure differential from the suction head to the opposite end of the hose, so that when the cleaner is operating the pressure differential causes the inflatable chamber to inflate and raise the hose to the surface.
  • hose Since the hose deflates when the suction head is not operating and since the hose overall has negative buoyancy the hose will sink to the bottom, the negative buoyancies arise through metal weights distributed along the length of an inflatable bladder located inside the hose. Thus the negative buoyancy arises through the metal weights and in the absence of the metal weights, the bladder and hose will float. Positive buoyancy arises through inflation of the bladder. Another problem arises where a hose has an inflatable bladder used to float the hose and an air inlet to the bladder is in a float at the end of a tube part way along the suction hose.
  • the float connecting tube is prone to tangle with the main hose or the float or may get caught up with both having potential to prevent proper operation of the cleaner.
  • the tube may break, its connection to the suction hose may beak and a special connector is required between segments of the hose.
  • the present application is directed to a further invention whereby the weights are eliminated thereby reducing manufacturing costs and inventory of parts and thereby reducing the overall cost of the product.
  • a still further invention related to the hose is the placement of the air inlet to the inflatable bladder near to or in the skimmer boxthat avoiding the problems associated with the above tube arrangement.
  • the suction head is typically configured with a standard skirt mount or foot so that it may be used with existing proprietary skirts.
  • the suction head is typically configured with a standard skirt mount or foot so that it may be used with existing proprietary skirts.
  • the suction head is typically configured with a standard skirt mount or foot so that it may be used with existing proprietary skirts.
  • a skirt for a pool cleaner having spaced hinged means adapted to cause preferential deformation of the skirt about the hinge means in order to aid tracking of the skirt across an uneven surface.
  • a suction head adapted to be coupled to a skirt and to a source of suction, the skirt having an upper surface, an undersurface, a central aperture and a periphery so that suction may be applied through the aperture and across the undersurface of the skirt, the head being made up of the following separate parts assembled together, a main body having a through hole, the through hole having an inlet end adjacent the aperture and in outlet end, an inner tube and diaphragm assembly adapted to extend through the through hole from the inlet end to the outlet end and forming a flow through passageway, a separate outlet tube surrounding the inner tube and able to rotate relative thereto, a clamp ring surrounding the inner and outer tube to secure the outer tube in the through hole, first and second wear rings on which the outer tube may rotate and a hand operable nut to apply clamping forced to the clamp ring and thereby hold the head together, the head having a skirt attachment means adapted to enable a skirt to be operatably attached to the head.
  • the body is medially bulged having upper and lower surface bump regions, the surface bump regions comprising removable and replaceable wear strips.
  • the surface bump regions comprise removable and replaceable wear strips, the removable and replaceable wear strips being held respective channels.
  • a pool cleaner comprising a suction head in combination with a skirt, the suction head being adapted for connection to a source of suction via a hose, the skirt having an upper surface, an undersurface, a central aperture and a periphery so that suction may be applied through the aperture and across the undersurface of the skirt, the head being made up of the following separate parts assembled together, a main body having a through hole, the through hole having an inlet end adjacent the aperture and in outlet end, an inner tube and diaphragm assembly adapted to extend through the through hole from the inlet end to the outlet end and forming a flow through passageway, a separate outlet tube surrounding the inner tube and able to rotate relative thereto, a clamp ring surrounding the inner and outer tube to secure
  • the skirt hinge means comprises radial grooves.
  • the hinge means comprises circumferentially spaced radially extending grooves.
  • the skirt preferably includes a peripheral edge and a centre and the hinge means comprises radial grooves extending from the peripheral edge of the skirt toward the centre of the skirt.
  • the skirt preferably includes a periphery and a marginal peripheral region adjacent the periphery of the skirt, the hinge means comprises grooves, the grooves being spaced about the marginal peripheral region of the skirt.
  • the skirt preferably includes has a periphery, an upper surface and an undersurface and circumferentially spaced raised fingers projecting upwardly and outwardly from the upper surface and defining the periphery of the skirt.
  • the skirt preferably includes the skirt has circumferential castellations extending around the skirt.
  • the skirt preferably includes has circumferential castellations extending around the skirt defining alternating inward and outward edge formations, at least some of said outward edge formations having raised fingers projecting upwardly and outwardly from the said at least some of said outward edge formations, said fingers having an inclined lower edge adapted to encourage the passage of the skirt over raised surface obstacles.
  • the skirt preferably includes the skirt has circumferential castellations extending around the skirt and the hinge means comprises grooves extending inward from the castellations.
  • the skirt preferably has a substantially flat undersurface and the hinge means comprises radial grooves, each said groove being spaced around the skirt so that a major proportion of the undersurface of the skirt comprises said flat undersurface.
  • the skirt preferably has a peripheral, a substantially flat undersurface in a marginal peripheral edge portion of the skirt and the hinge means comprises inwardly extending grooves, the grooves being spaced around marginal peripheral edge portion of the skirt so that a major proportion of the undersurface of the skirt in the marginal peripheral edge portion comprises said flat undersurface defining flat regions of the skirt between the grooves, adjacent ones of said flat regions between the grooves being tiltable relative to one another along the line of the groove.
  • the skirt preferably has a peripheral edge, a substantially flat undersurface in a marginal peripheral edge portion of the skirt and the hinge means comprises inwardly extending grooves, the grooves being spaced around marginal peripheral edge portion of the skirt so that a major proportion of the undersurface of the skirt in the marginal peripheral edge portion comprises said flat undersurface defining flat regions of the skirt between the grooves, adjacent ones of said flat regions between the grooves being tiltable relative to one another along the line of the groove.
  • a skirt for a pool cleaner the skirt having spaced hinged means adapted to cause preferential deformation of the skirt about the hinge means in order to aid tracking of the skirt across an uneven surface.
  • a system for sinking and floating a hose in a pool cleaner arrangement including a hose containing an inflatable bladder, the combination having negative buoyancy and the relationship between the inflatable bladder and the hose being such that while the inflatable bladder is deflated the hose will sink to the bottom of the pool.
  • the hose is configured for negative buoyancy having multiple segments, each segment having negative buoyancy.
  • the system includes a hose having a proximal outlet end and a distal inlet end and an inflatable bladder inside the hose, the bladder having a proximal section and a distal end and an air inlet adjacent the proximal end of the proximal section and there being an anchor intermediate the proximal section and the distal end to prevent the inflatable bladder being drawn toward the proximal end of the hose, the air inlet being adjacent the proximal end of the hose.
  • a floating hose system for a pool cleaner comprising a hose and an inflatable bladder used to float the hose during operation, the bladder having an air inlet, the hose having an inlet end which in use is fitted to a pool cleaner head and an outlet end which in use is fitted to an inlet to a pool filter system, the air inlet being adjacent the outlet end of the hose so that it is located near to the outlet end.
  • the air inlet is located inside or just outside the skimmer box.
  • Figure 2 is a detail of part of the skirt of Figure 1 ;
  • Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating operation of the skirt of Figures 1 and 2 showing preferential flexing by reason of the skirt construction;
  • Figures 4 and 5 are drawings illustrating parts of a pool cleaner according to the present improvement in relation to suction heads;
  • Figure 6 is a drawing illustrating parts of Figures 4 and 5 operatively assembled into a suction head
  • Figure 7 is a schematic drawing of a typical hose assembly.
  • a skirt 10 of a disc-like configuration viewed from the underside 11 the skirt has a central aperture 12 which is selected to fit to existing pool cleaners on the market and made by different manufacturers so that the present disc may be utilised as spare parts for those cleaners.
  • the disc includes suction holes 13 distributed as shown so that small particles that drift onto the upper side of the disc maybe drawn through the holes 13 and ultimately through the aperture 12 into the suction head. It will be appreciated that an inlet to the suction head would be positioned in use essentially in relation to the aperture 12.
  • the skirt includes castellations 14 about the outer periphery of the disc and there are upwardly and outwardly projecting fingers 15 which form guides so that the disc does not slide under objects which may be located on the pool bottom.
  • hinge means are provided in the form or grooves 16 which extend radially from an inner portion of the castellations 14 and 17, so that as the disc flexes upwardly to travel over the obstacle, there is a preferential deformation of the disc about the hinge means 16 while the suction causes the regions around the deforming hinge means 16 to remain as close as possible to the surface of the pool it will be appreciated that the rest of the disc will retain its optimum working contact with the pool surface notwithstanding the obstacle being encountered.
  • the disc will of course orient itself in the direction of least resistence under the propulsive force and in relation to the surface obstacle or obstruction being contacted by the disc. It will further be appreciated that compared to a disc which has radial slits that it is impossible for segmentation of the disc to cause a segment to fold under.
  • the grooves 16 are evenly spaced at three finger spacing. The fingers 15 are ramped up and away from the underside.
  • FIG. 2 illustrates the hinge means in greater detail and Figure 3 illustrates the folding action albeit shown from below it will be appreciated that the disc is folding preferentially about the hinge means 16.
  • Figures 4, 5 and 6 illustrate a suction head, shown in exploded view in Figure 4 and the assembled is section in Figure 5 and perspective in Figure 6.
  • the parts comprise a main body 21 having a medially bulged region 22, a skirt connection flange 23 so that a skirt (not shown)may be fitted to the main body 21.
  • Lead ballast 24 is located in the main body at 25.
  • the body includes a holds respective inner and outer tubes 26 and 27 which are secured within the by a clamping ring assembly comprising wear ring 28, a claim ring 29, wear ring 30 and a hand nut 31 which operate to clamp the tubes 26 and 27 in position while allowing the outer tube to be fixed to a suction hose and able to rotate therewith.
  • a deflector wheel 32 may be clipped onto the hand nut projection 33 as shown in Figure 6.
  • a diaphragm valve 34 is fitted to the end of the inner tube 27 at 35 and the inner tube is placed in position by threading it through the inlet 36 to the through passage of the body 21.
  • the hand nut has a screw thread which cooperates which a screw thread at 37 on the main body 21 and the clamp ring is forced against the bevel 38 to cause fingers 39 of the clamp ring to clamp against the inner tube 26 thereby securing the whole assembly together while the outer tube is free to rotate on the wear rings 28,30, the outer tube being secured to the suction hose and thereby the rotation of the outer tube inhibits twisting of the suction hose during operation of the cleaner.
  • FIG. 7 there is illustrated a hose assembly 50, while not drawn accurately illustrates an inflatable bladder 51 , and an air inlet hose section 52 having an inlet at 53 adjacent the proximal end 54 of a main suction hose having side wall sections 55 and 56.
  • Figure 7 represents a longitudinal section through the assembly 50.
  • the section 52 is anchored at 57 to the hose side wall.
  • the non-inflatable sections are used to sink the hose when it is not operating. As soon as the suction commences the inflatable hose is inflated and the hose floats.
  • the air inlet 53 is located adjacent the skimmer box and may be inside the skimmer box.
  • a short tube an float may be used inside the skimmer box or it may be attached to the inside of the skimmer box above water level.
  • the inflatable section of the hose inflates in the normal way but when the flow stops the hose is sunk by reason of the negative buoyancy of the sections making up the non-inflatable sections. This does away with the need for discrete metal sinkers.
  • the inflatable and non-inflatable sections may be made from material heavier than water or either may be.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Architecture (AREA)
  • Civil Engineering (AREA)
  • Structural Engineering (AREA)
  • Electric Vacuum Cleaner (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention vise un dispositif automatique de nettoyage de piscine amélioré comprenant une construction améliorée à tête d’aspiration pour dispositif de nettoyage de piscine, une construction améliorée de jupe de dispositif de nettoyage de piscine, et un système amélioré de flottaison de tuyau de dispositif de nettoyage de piscine utilisé avec des dispositifs automatiques de nettoyage de piscine. La tête d’aspiration comporte peu de pièces et en comporte principalement sept. Lesdites pièces comprennent : un corps principal (21), ayant une zone (22) renflée au milieu, une bride (23) de raccord de jupe conçue de sorte qu’une jupe (24) puisse être installée sur la tête d’aspiration (21). Le corps comporte un passage traversant (25) permettant aux tubes interne et externe (26 et 27) respectifs d’être fixés par un ensemble de bague de serrage (28) comprenant une bague de serrage (29), une paire de bagues d’usure (30) et un écrou de serrage manuel (31). La jupe est un disque qui comporte des rainures (16) formant un moyen d’articulation en vue d’une déformation préférentielle du disque autour des rainures (16) quand la jupe rencontre des obstacles sous l’eau. Le système de flottaison de tuyau possède un tuyau externe et un tuyau gonflable conférant à la combinaison une flottabilité négative du fait que la section non gonflable est constituée de sections à flottabilité négative qui devraient normalement couler.
PCT/AU2006/001631 2005-11-01 2006-11-01 Améliorations de dispositifs automatiques de nettoyage de piscine WO2007051241A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU2005906032A AU2005906032A0 (en) 2005-11-01 Pool cleaner and pool cleaner skirt
AU2005906032 2005-11-01

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2007051241A1 true WO2007051241A1 (fr) 2007-05-10

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PCT/AU2006/001631 WO2007051241A1 (fr) 2005-11-01 2006-11-01 Améliorations de dispositifs automatiques de nettoyage de piscine

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Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN116212136A (zh) * 2023-05-08 2023-06-06 四川省医学科学院·四川省人民医院 一种胸腔镜手术用负压抽吸装置

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5433985A (en) * 1993-03-18 1995-07-18 Zarina Holdings C.V. Pool cleaner disc
US6122794A (en) * 1996-10-03 2000-09-26 Zodiac Pool Care, Inc. Swimming pool cleaner component
WO2002008548A1 (fr) * 2000-07-26 2002-01-31 Zodiac Pool Care Europe Sas Procédé de nettoyage de surface immergée et plaque d'aspiration
US20030037396A1 (en) * 2001-08-24 2003-02-27 Manfred Stahle Swimming pool cleaner component
WO2004007872A2 (fr) * 2002-07-16 2004-01-22 Pavel Sebor Appareil nettoyeur de piscines
WO2005031090A1 (fr) * 2003-10-02 2005-04-07 Claire Liese Rademeyer Joint d'etancheite pour dispositif de nettoyage de piscine

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5433985A (en) * 1993-03-18 1995-07-18 Zarina Holdings C.V. Pool cleaner disc
US6122794A (en) * 1996-10-03 2000-09-26 Zodiac Pool Care, Inc. Swimming pool cleaner component
WO2002008548A1 (fr) * 2000-07-26 2002-01-31 Zodiac Pool Care Europe Sas Procédé de nettoyage de surface immergée et plaque d'aspiration
US20030037396A1 (en) * 2001-08-24 2003-02-27 Manfred Stahle Swimming pool cleaner component
WO2004007872A2 (fr) * 2002-07-16 2004-01-22 Pavel Sebor Appareil nettoyeur de piscines
WO2005031090A1 (fr) * 2003-10-02 2005-04-07 Claire Liese Rademeyer Joint d'etancheite pour dispositif de nettoyage de piscine

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN116212136A (zh) * 2023-05-08 2023-06-06 四川省医学科学院·四川省人民医院 一种胸腔镜手术用负压抽吸装置
CN116212136B (zh) * 2023-05-08 2023-07-04 四川省医学科学院·四川省人民医院 一种胸腔镜手术用负压抽吸装置

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